This invention relates to the cleaning and polishing of floors by rotary-type motor-driven machines of the general type which have long been in use, in particular the commercial-type devices commonly used in public places to clean and polish hard-surfaced floors.
Floor-cleaning and polishing machines of the type noted above utilize rotary, motor-driven pads of disc-like configuration as the physical element which is actually placed in contact with the floor surfaces to clean or polish them, using various liquid or other chemical preparations as the cleaning or polishing agent. These rotary "pads" are made from various compositions, including for example, various natural hair substances (in particular, hog hair), synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon, etc., which are bonded together by various resins or the like to form flat, disc-shaped matted members of various thicknesses and varying degrees of stiffness and abrasiveness. The particular type of pad selected from this variety depends upon the particular task required, i.e., the type of floor involved, surface condition (degree of roughness, etc.), the issue of whether cleaning or polishing is desired, the type of dirt, stain, or discoloration to be removed, etc.
The selected pad is mounted on a base plate or pad holder located at the bottom of the cleaning machine, which is coupled to the drive motor for rotation. One example of a satisfactory such pad holder comprises a circular steel plate with a resilient foam adhered to it and a stiff or rigid plastic or other such disc glued or otherwise secured to the outside surface of the foam. The face or lowermost surface of the plastic disc includes means for securing the cleaning/polishing pad to it, one such means being a relatively large number of small hook-like protrusions similar to those used in the commercial connector apparatus sold under the trademark "Velcro." With such structure, the fibrous pad is readily and securely attached to the pad holder by simply pressing the two together, without having to use any mechanical fasteners, etc. Further, the pad is readily removable from such a holder by merely pulling it off the pad holder and thus disengaging the small hooks from the fibers of the pad.
It is a generally recognized fact that larger diameter pads do not conform to floor surface irregularities as well as smaller pads do. This is demonstrated by the fact that practically all commercially available floor machines are designed to cover a width of more than twenty to twenty eight inches, employ a pair of smaller adjacent pads rather than a single large pad, and many times even machines designed for smaller widths employ two or more smaller pads rather than one larger one. Since each separate pad requires a separate drive motor and related structure, apparatus, etc., it is more expensive to manufacture machines which use more than one pad even though the performance may be better. Consequently, compromises are made according to individual preferences and convictions, but as a general rule machines with smaller pads produce better results than machines with larger ones. Improved results are obtained from the smaller pads because their smaller diameter and corresponding sharper peripheral curvature enables them to better conform to floor surface irregularities, and to better access impressions or recesses in the floor surface, particularly when their rotational plane is in effect tilted by raising or lowering the handle of the machine on which they are mounted, a practice referred to in the industry as "heeling." Furthermore, the torsional resistance or drag felt by the machine operator is reduced when smaller pads are used, especially if they are counter-related, thereby reducing the required effort and decreasing operator fatigue.